OVERCOMING SIN AND TEMPTATION: THREE CLASSIC WORKS BY JOHN OWEN

Written by KELLY M. KAPIC AND JUSTIN TAYLOR, EDS. Reviewed By Graham Beynon

This is a republishing of three works by John Owen: Of the Mortification of Sin in Believers, Of Temptation, and Indwelling Sin in Believers. These three bring together Owen’s work on the nature of sin and the Christian’s fight against it.

These works have been available as part of the larger publications of Owen’s work and in various abridged forms. This new publication aims at re-introducing Owen to a new generation by producing an unabridged but updated and hence more readable version.

The updating includes footnotes explaining difficult words or phrases, modernising of archaic spellings, modernising of punctuation, and the addition of headings and italics to aid the reader in following the structure of the book. All of these make reading Owen a far easier task than the other unabridged versions in print. The only change British readers may not appreciate is the Americanisation of spellings!

There are also introductory essays to each work that provide an overview of the argument. These are not as extensive as one might have expected—only a page or two long each, but are still very helpful.

Reading Owen remains a challenge despite these endeavours, and I for one think that there is still a place for abridgements. However, this new volume is most welcome in allowing readers access to the wonderful insights and spiritual surgery of Owen. He is surely one of the voices of the past that reveals the paucity of modern thinking about sin, and from whom we have so much to learn.


Graham Beynon

Graham Beynon is pastor of Grace Church in Cambridge, UK and director of independent ministry training at Oak Hill Theological College in London.

Other Articles in this Issue

One of the most eminent spin doctors of the fourth century, Augustine bemoaned that he was merely a vendito verborum (a peddler of words)...

Hudson Community Chapel is a suburban church in the Midwest that averages a little over three thousand people each weekend...

It must by now be questionable whether the word "mission"retains any residual value for missiology...

"For to freedom you yourselves were called, brothers; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another...

In the course of Christian history, nowhere has the tension between the teachings of Jesus and valid application of those teachings in postbiblical socio-cultural circumstances manifested itself more clearly than surrounding the issue of violence...